Category Archives: pianist

It would be easy to reel off a list of prizes in 4 separate Moscow competition categories and characterize all recipients as “winners,”–that is if we put music-making into the sports arena with a clear cut victor and an opposing … Continue reading →

Elaine Comparone insists that playing Haydn’s works on the harpsichord stirs her “imagination to new heights.” The harpsichordist’s upload of Haydn’s eloquent Sonata No. 52 in Eb Major ironically paralleled Reed Tetzloff’s piano performance in Moscow which introduces an aesthetic … Continue reading →

Among many opening piano recitals beamed around the world by Medici in the first round of the Tchaikovsky Competition, George Li’s display of virtuosity was the most riveting for me. A synthesis of intellect, emotion, sensitivity and spontaneity hallmarked Li’s … Continue reading →

In this excerpt from Lara Downe’s San Francisco Classical Voice interview with Stephen Hough, the universe of growth and musical ripening is explored. Lara Downes: Your teacher, Gordon Green, was a great influence and inspiration to you, and you’ve quoted … Continue reading →

It’s common for piano students to divide their scales into well-boxed rhythmic compartments, emphasizing the fundamental beat that interrupts a smooth flowing legato (connecting from note to note). Sometimes players are unaware of their reinforced “beat” counting impulses and need … Continue reading →

A musician’s understanding of a masterwork is a composite of ideas derived from many sources. In the course of piano study, perceptions change and grow, enlarged by a combined theoretical and musical examination of a composition that invites mentors into … Continue reading →

After my review of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Drawing Room” Sonata K. 545 in C, Allegro, I discovered by comparison that the opening movement of K. 332 in F Major, had a more complex mosaic. In the short space of its … Continue reading →